Managing Whitefly on Soybean

The whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius, 1889) is a major pest species in soybean, leading to severe economic losses on this crop due to the difficulties involved on its management. Previously restricted to the Middle-west and Southeast regions of Brazil, whitefly infestations have steadily increased in the Southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, the third biggest soybean growing region of the country. Control failures and scarcity of updated information have led Brazilian soybean growers to raise excessively the number of sprays per crop season, increasing control costs and jeopardizing the long-term sustainbility of this strategy due to selection of resistant strains and potential harmful effects on the environment. The aim of this work was to evaluate the performance of different chemical insecticides in the control of B. tabaci nymphs and adults on soybean crops in two different sites, under the field conditions faced by the growers in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The most efficient treatment for the control of B. tabaci adults was cyantraniliprole + lambda-cyhalothrin, at the doses of 100 + 7.5 g a.i. ha-1, which provided 65% of average control efficiency. As for nymph control, the most efficient treatment was acetamiprid + pyriproxyfen, at the doses of 60 + 30 g a.i. ha-1, which resulted in 67% of whitefly control in average. Two sequential sprays beginning at the infestation onset are recommended in order to enhance control efficiency.